Meet our celebrity supporters
Bookstart 20 was supported by lots of celebrities, who all pledged to share 20 books in 2012.
Scroll down to discover our celebrity supporters, which books they chose to share and why...
This year Booktrust is celebrating the 20th Anniversary of Bookstart, its flagship scheme, which has been so successful in promoting the benefits of reading aloud to children by their parents, and their grandparents.
As a grandmother myself, one of my favourite books for younger children is Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy by Lynley Dodd. I read it to my grandchildren, whenever I can, as we all love the rhyming descriptions of the hilarious adventures of this naughty little terrier, and his gang of canine friends.
(image copyright: Mario Testino)
Children's books have played a huge part in both my career and my personal life. The magical words and illustrations of The Snowman, Raymond Briggs' classic story, helped bring my voice to the attention of millions of people all around the world when I was starting out. And more recently as a dad I've discovered a whole new generation of fantastic stories to share with my children. Those times together, sharing a book have been incredibly precious and memorable.
I'm thrilled to be supporting Bookstart in 2012. As a proud Welshman I'm particularly happy to bang the drum for Bookstart in Wales - which offers wonderful bilingual book packs for every baby and toddler.
Bookstart is a vital part of our shared human life because it accelerates the means by which we understand the world from other people's point of view. Books take us into the wide world at the same time as they take us into ourselves.
A shared book is more than just a story. It's a conversation, a connection, maybe even a friendship.
There can be no finer start to life than a book, preferably read with, or by, your mum and dad at bedtime! That's why I think Booktrust is doing a magnificent job, opening up a world of knowledge, excitement and entertainment to all children. I think the Bookstart campaign deserves our support in their quest to quite literally, spread the word to children throughout the UK.
My favourite book has always been, and forever will be, The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe by C S Lewis. I first read it when I was about 7 years old, and used to go to bed at night praying that I'd wake up to become Lucy Pevensie, the little girl who first finds the magical land of Narnia and befriends Mr Tumnus, the faun. Ever since, I have always opened wardrobes, in hope and ultimate disappointment. But it doesn't stop me trying again and again. Over the years, some critics have derided the moralistic and Christian overtones - but I think it still stands proud as a daring tale of children fighting evil with their one true weapon - their innate goodness. How can that ever grow old?
I have treasured memories of shared reading time with my children, now grown up and avid book lovers themselves. Picture books open up a world of wonder and curiosity and help children to develop vital visual literacy skills. The best picture books, such as Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, provide tantalising gaps between the words and illustrations, ripe for exploring during bedtime reading, on the bus, in the park - anytime and everywhere!
I'm very happy that Bookstart is celebrating it's 20th birthday and hope it will live forever. It's such a brilliant way to get books to children and I think it's now even been imitated in my hometown Hamburg. My favourite books to share are books in translation :
Ole Könnecke: Anton Can Do Magic -one of a series of books on Anton, very witty,simple and funny stories about everyday life of children (Gecko Press)
Ulf Nilsson/ Eva Erikson: All The Dear Little Animals - a group of children are starting an undertaker business - a gentle story about death - something not only my own daughter, but lots of children want to find out about and a good starting point for a conversation about this big subject (Gecko Press)
Toon Tellegen: The Squirrel's Birthday and Other Parties - illustrated by Jessica Ahlberg - one of a series of three beautifully produced books by a Dutch author , who is extremely popular in his home country. Life in a world, where letters are still being written - though the correspondents are animals. Heart-warming and funny stories with wonderful matching illustrations.
I'm delighted to give my support to Bookstart on its twentieth birthday. It is a vital project, one which reinforces everything that is great about books and reading, and helps to create the readers of the future. It is essential that our children get the best start in life and this scheme helps to achieve that in a fun and exciting way. Everyone involved should feel very proud indeed - well done!
My favourite picture book ever is The Cat in the Hat by Dr Seuss. It is everything a great picture book should be - crazy characters shown in vivid drawings, wonderful simple rhymes that teach children to have fun with reading, and a plot which entices both young and old, so that parents can laugh alongside their kids. It's a book which you read once and never forget. A true classic.
If memory serves me right my favourite book as a child was Tarka the Otter by Henry Williamson. I found it in the local Co-op library in Oldham (my home town) along with the 'Tarzan' series by Edgar Rice Burroughs. I did read other Williamson books and stories, but Tarka was the best of the lot! I still have a copy somewhere on the bookshelf.
Blake Morrison
Reading can change lives and create new freedoms - the work that Bookstart has done over the past 20 years deserves to be celebrated.
Books are my parallel universe, a place of safety in an uncertain world. For my children they are an endless journey of exploration. To read is to be free to wander these all-giving worlds, and the gift of reading is one of the most precious gifts to share. That's why I am pleased to be part of Bookstart in 2012.
Glenys, 8, loves author Rick Riordan's books inspired by the old Greek myths and legends, but we read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer together. John Jones, 6, loves Roald Dahl and aeroplane manuals, I must say I prefer to read the Roald Dahl with him! Red Owen, 2 is a Gruffalo man, and quite right too, it is the most fun book to read out loud to your babies.
Sharing books is one of the great joys in life and I still remember the first time I discovered one of my favourite books- a rainy day in the Scottish borders, being given a dog eared copy of Professor Branestaum illustrated by William Heath Robinson - life changing!
My favourite childhood books were, without doubt, the series Orlando the Marmalade Cat. The books were huge with wondrously large and fabulous illustrations of Orlando, his beautiful wife Grace and their three naughty but nice kittens Blanche, Pansy and Tinkle. I was captivated by the whole family and I guarantee they would still be enchanting and entrancing to the modern child.
I wholeheartedly recommend the Narnia series of books by C S Lewis. I loved reading them to my nieces and nephews years ago.
My niece says that her daughter (almost 3) loves Elmer and the Lost Teddy by David McKee. There are a few in the collection that I am going to think about getting because they are really lovely stories. Sofie loves looking at the pictures and waits to find the teddy on the last page!
Kai has a massive book collection already and he's only two, but there's nothing nicer for a child than to receive a book that will take them to a magical place! Our favourite is Peter Pan, he has me reading it over and over again.
David Almond
It's such a simple and powerful idea - if we share books with babies, we help them to become lifelong readers. Kids love the sound of words, the music of stories, the look of pictures, the feel of books. Sharing books isn't a chore. It's a lovely form of play.
I'm delighted to be celebrating Bookstart's 20th birthday this year. I've always believed in the importance of reading with children - and as Dad to four of my own, I've certainly gained plenty of experience of sharing stories over the years! Books provide such wonderful opportunities for children of all ages to learn about the world and to let their imaginations run wild, which is why it's so important for even the youngest children to be able to enjoy books at home. Treasure Island has always been one of my favourites, as it paints a magnificent picture of adventure and escapism with the right dose of thrills. So a very happy birthday to Bookstart - and here's hoping for another fantastic 20 years!
Ed Vere
Bookstart has done so much to encourage and enable children to read over the last 20 years, it deserves support from not only us but also the government so it can continue to introduce children to the written word.
Emily Gravett
A good book can fire a child's imagination and open new worlds. Bookstart has given away 30 million free books. Imagine that!
Reading is pretty much my favourite thing in the world, after my two children. Having to think of my favourite book to share with my favourite people is a bit like diving into a bouncy castle made entirely of chocolate cake - more difficult than you might think. Last night, we read Mr Big, (which was a present from Bookstart!) followed by a chapter from How To Be A Pirate. If I had to pick just one book? Dr Seuss's Sleep Book, because my dad used to read that to me when I was little.
My children are Bookstart children - when they were babies, they gummed on Bookstart books. In the nursery, I remember the excitement and pride on their faces when they came home with their Bookstart treasure chests. And when they started primary school it was Booktime. I've had the great joy of working nationally with Booktrust and teachers on the project 'Everybody Writes' and can honestly say that it was as heartwarming to work within the organisation as to benefit from it as a parent. I love Bookstart.
I love it best of all sitting browsing in the library and discovering something together that we've never read before. But I also love it when one of my children discovers for the first time something that I first read when I was their age - Tintin, or Asterix or Just William. I love the way books we've shared become part of our family vocabulary, so for instance if we're walking into a cafe on a winter's evening, I'll know we're all thinking of that brilliant picture in The Tiger Who Came to Tea. Or if there are mad thumping noises upstairs in the night - that'll be Where the Wild Things Are. And I love it that we sometimes love a book that no one else seems to have even heard of - so it's like a family secret. That's The Land of Green Ginger by Noel Langley. I love it when one of my older children comes back from his or her travels with something completely new that they want to share - like treasure they've found under the sea.
My youngest and oldest children both love Michael Rosen. Going on a Bear Hunt was one of the first books my youngest, who is five, particularly chose. She loved it, loved the rhythm of it. We saw it on stage and the school also 'went on a bear hunt'.
My oldest, who is 10, enjoys Michael Morpurgo's books most of all and likes the David Walliams books. She read Billionaire Boy three times.
My favourite book to share with children is Thomas the Tank Engine by the Rev W Awdry.
As a dad to two real children and three fictional TV children, I know a lot about the challenges and rewards of fatherhood. Escaping the madness to curl up together with a book - or three - at the end of a long day really is a wonderful thing. I am supporting the Bookstart pledge to share 20 books in 2012 because even from the first few months, the time to cuddle up and share a story together is a very special one for all families.
I think my favourite book to share with a small child is Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. The illustrations are fantastic, the text succinctly perfect, and it's great fun getting a child to join in by roaring terrible roars and showing terrible claws.
I loved reading aloud the Just William books because they're so funny and The Hobbit because it's exciting (I loved pretending to be Gollum guarding the ring), and my daughter and I particularly enjoyed sharing wonderful girly classics like Ballet Shoes and Little Women and What Katy Did and A Little Princess.
However busy we are, Jools and I always make time to read with our kids, Poppy, Daisy, Petal and Buddy. It's been brilliant to share in their reading journeys, from chewing the cardboard books as babies, through to reading chapters out loud themselves and having chats about what's happening in the story. Basically it's another great opportunity for us to enjoy some quality time together; something that's really precious in the chaos that family life can be.
I have two children, a boy of seven and a 20-month-old girl. Both have received books from Bookstart, and I can honestly say that the books they have received have been amongst their favourites and have been read again and again!
Encouraging a love of books from a young age in my children has been very important to me, as I love to read, and I wanted them to experience the joy that a book can bring. Every night before bed I read with the children, it's a great way to have some quiet quality time together, and have fun. My son loves reading and we are now sharing books that I read at his age! My little girl who is 20 months also reads every night before bed, and is learning so much from the different books we read.
I feel Bookstart is vital for children, as it encourages a love of books and reading from an early age. It also helps bonding between the parents and children, and encourages learning without the child even realising it!
I feel that the funding for this programme is of vital importance to our future generations. For many parents the books they receive from Bookstart may be the only ones they have. What a shame it would be to jeopardise the potential that those books could bring to many families.
I am celebrating 20 years of this fantastic programme by pledging to share 20 books this year!
When I was a teacher, decades ago, a book that I used to read with my 12 year olds was Richard Adams' Watership Down. The children adored it, and I think the reason wasn't just that it's a terrific and adventurous story with plenty of moral meat, but that the rabbits, however much anthropomorphised, were portryed extremely seriously and never soppily. They are all credible and recognisable characters and you could see how deeply they engaged the children with their reality.
My favourite Beatrix Potter has always been The Tailor of Gloucester. Even without the ravishing watercolours and drawings, this is a story that has everything - struggle, magic, poverty, animals, romance, history, snow and a happy ending. It too has a marked morality, and a distinct charm, as well as just a breath of menace - none of my grandchildren have liked the picture of Simkins the cat's hungry face pressed up against the window, with the good little stitching mice only inches away from him through the glass. But everybody adores the tiny mouse note which says 'No more twist'...
And then there are classic fairy stories. A current favourite is Sarah Gibbs' exquisitely illustrated version of Rapunzel.The combination of miles of hair, a wicked witch and a tower with no door is irresistible to the under 6's and the over 60's alike...
John O'Farrell
There's a tendency among some men to think that reading to your children is something that Mums do. But for all parents, taking the time to read with your kids is one of those fantastically special things that you look back on with a warm glow of happiness. Everyone gains - and both adults and children are introduced to some great stories along the way.
Some of my happiest memories are of my parents and granny reading to me, and of sharing stories with my own children. And now, through my grandchildren, I am re-discovering that pleasure. Even the very youngest child enjoys sitting on a knee, looking at pictures, and hearing familiar and new words spoken by an adult they are close to. As the child's understanding grows, those shared stories will stimulate their imagination, transport them to different worlds, help them to understand themselves and others and to become the avid readers of the future.
Free Bookstart Rhymetime sessions, held in libraries up and down the country, are an enjoyable and sociable introduction to song and rhyme, which are vital for a child's language development.
I would encourage as many people as possible to sign up to the Bookstart 20 pledge and celebrate the joys of book-sharing in 2012.
When my oldest daughter was born I was thrilled to be introduced to the joys of Bookstart. A little baby book with a simple rhyme and a little mirror on the last page (we still have it) was a treasured beginning to a love of books that has continued throughout Martha's 10 years. Our favourite books to share over the years have been the Mr Gum books by Andy Stanton (now a firm favourite with my youngest too and brilliant to read aloud) and the wonderful stories of Michael Morpurgo and Jacqueline Wilson. I'll never forget reading the last heartbreaking page of JW's My Sister Jodie snuggled up in bed, both of us weeping!
Julie Myerson
Books go straight to the heart of what it means to be human: an attempt to try and understand this world of ours and why we all feel and do as we do. Because of this, they're the greatest gift we can give our children and no age is too young to start enjoying their solace, excitement and company.
With two girls aged five and seven, reading to them, and hearing them read to me makes for the most manic yet rewarding last hour of the day. From The Gruffalo to James and the Giant Peach, and of course (them being princesses) Cinderella - these are amongst the favourites we like to read together as a family. It's fascinating to see their imagination run wild.
Wind In The Willows by Kenneth Grahame is my all time favourite book and I am really enjoying sharing it with my eldest son Oscar at the moment. It's a lovely and adorable story and it definitely ignited my passion and love for animals.
My favourite book to share is Little Women. Every character is one whom you'd like to get to know and the emotions in the book are very real. This is a book to read on Sunday afternoon curled up on the sofa.
Books are a way for children to inhabit many imaginary worlds and to expand their horizons. Books are invaluable in so many ways. They provide stories that stay with you throughout your life and characters who can become lifelong friends.
Giving the gift of a book is the biggest of compliments. It's like giving away an emotion or a dream. It's an opening, one you cannot tame or capture; a chance to see the world through somebody else's eyes. It is positively intrusive and inviting. It is trusting another with the way something made you feel and by doing that you are giving away a little bit of you. I think that is pretty magical. Far more powerful than ordering a recommendation from a favourite restaurant, book sharing is a real measurement of taste. A yummy one.
I am so proud to be a part of Bookstart's 20th birthday celebrations. Books are such an important part of my family's daily routine. After a day spent talking, it's nice to escape into imaginary worlds and explore new lands. Here's to another 20 years.
I am a huge Julia Donaldson fan. Charlie Cook's Favourite Book is incredible and all about the magic of reading, as is Oliver Jeffers' The Incredible Book Eating Boy. I grew up as a huge fan of Roald Dahl's and still have all of his books for when my boys are older.
Of the twenty books I've pledged to share this year, those that I am most looking forward to opening for others are the ones that I enjoyed as a child.
Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel is a vivid collection of short stories for early readers. These two best friends weather the ups and downs of life together, with simplicity, humour and ingenuity. Their struggles seem just as relevant and amusing to me now as they did when I was a child! I hope those that have not come across these wonderful characters before, will find (as I did ) that Frog and Toad are friends for life.
Ameliaranne at the Circus by Margaret Gilmour, illustrated by S B Pearse was my first picture book - or the first one I can remember. My Grandmother gave it to me (it was hers when she was a child and was given to her in 1933). I learned the story off by heart and knew exactly when to turn the page, so it appeared that I knew how to read. I think I got so much praise and attention for this precocious trick that it encouraged me to learn to read properly! I loved the story so much, I think it was the first to teach me that reading can be a waking dream.
Jacko, by John S Goodallis another very fond memory from childhood and my favourite of John S Goodall's books, which often had a very ingenious design. The book has no words, and alternate 'half' pages flap across one another, allowing the reader to 'spot the difference' and to see alternative outcomes (and near misses) within a single page spread. The illustrations give a very detailed description of life aboard ship and Jacko (a stowaway monkey) entertains with his mischief as he tries to evade capture.
The books we read as children and young adults help to shape who we are and what we become. The books I read as a child engendered a lifelong passion for stories - books like Dr Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham, CS Lewis's The Silver Chair and Kathleen Arnott's African Myths and Legends still live within me to this day. No doubt about it, books change lives.
As the father of a 2 and a 4 year old who we read to every night I have no doubt whatsoever in the importance of reading to young children. Even in these days of tablet computers and 3D video games it stimulates, It excites, it encourages imagination and it entertains in a way no other activity can. It's so important I even wrote my own book series!
I pledge to go in to 12 schools in my local area over the coming year and read to the children.
Michael Foreman
Growing up during World War II and in a home with no books, the pleasure of sharing books with a child at bedtime had to wait until I was blessed with children of my own.
The Ahlbergs, The Jolly Postman and Burglar Bill, Rod Campbell's Dear Zoo became great favourites along with the Towser series by Tony Ross. During a recent house move and looking at the vast number of books we had acquired, we decided that our now grown-up boys could only those books which had been really significant during their childhood. After long deliberation, and much heart searching, we took every single book.
Rt Hon Michael Gove MP
Bookstart's aim of getting all families reading to babies and young children as part of family life is commendable, and I am delighted to pledge to share 20 books in 2012. I wholeheartedly agree that reading aloud to young children is important as the early stages of a child's life are critical to help them develop well and be ready for school. Please accept my best wishes for the future success of Bookstart.
It is through stories and poems that we come to an understanding of ourselves and of others and the world about us. The earlier a child learns to love stories and poems, the more likely it is that the child will grow up aware and grow up thinking. We owe our children a good start in life, a book start in life.
Sir Michael Parkinson
Growing up reading books was maybe the most important part of my young life. I became fascinated with the words and the stories and the emotions they conveyed and I couldn't imagine what my life would have been like without books. They gave me, among other things, the means to earn a living from writing which has lasted all my life and, most importantly, huge enjoyment.
We now know that if we share books with children right from the time they are babies, we are helping them enormously to understand the world. It's all about looking, listening and talking. Bookstart offers the perfect way in: free books in your hand with all sorts of great suggestions about keeping up the habit of sharing books with our children. It's a great scheme.
The Gruffalo is the single favourite book at home and one of the best books for children of all times. Our children never seem to get tired of it. We must have read this book around five thousand four hundred and thirty six times... and it keeps working. It has all the ingredients to become a classic book: excitement, humour, fear, imagination...as well as wonderful Scheffler illustrations. Julia Donaldson's genius is in the rhythm of the story: the tension increases at a deliciously slowly pace but then, when other writers would rush to the end, Julia decides to decrease the tension slowly as well. Nothing is what it seems: the Gruffalo is scary and yet vulnerable and lovable; the forest is peaceful and yet full of action; and the mouse... that mouse is just the coolest animal on Earth!
The Tiger who came to Teais wonderfully old-fashioned. I love reading this book to our children and they do not seem to care that it was written in what they think is 'the dinosaurs' era' (ie the year I was born). From the very beginning of the book one gets the feeling that something truly terrible is going to happen and that fearful excitement grows and grows until the tiger simply says 'goodbye'... and he leaves. It is the Sixties all over: the food comes from tins, the mum prepares the tea while the dad works and drinks beer... there is something weirdly reassuring about such political incorrectness... that children do not even seem to notice.
Peace at Last by Jill Murphy is my favourite book for toddlers. The text is soothingly repetitive and you get the chance to make great noises from the tic-tac of the clock to the drip-drip of the tap. Shouting 'I cannot stand this!' is utterly satisfying when your own children have not let you sleep for days.
As the uncle of several nieces and a nephew I've done a fair bit of bedtime story reading with very young children and I know that Cowboy Baby by Sue Heap fits the bill perfectly. The tale of a Wild West toddler who needs to gather up all his toys before he's happy to go to bed, it's great fun to read with an American accent. The pictures manage to be satisfyingly detailed and wonderfully soothing at the same time and very importantly, the story is just the right length.
Owl Babies by Martin Waddell and Patrick Benson isn't too long either and I think it's a classic. Three little owls wake up one night to find their mother isn't there and have to manage alone until she returns. The gentle words convey the owls' anxieties superbly and the atmospheric pictures are eerie to just the right degree, making the happy ending all the more satisfying.
Pants by Giles Andreae is a good one to read too, with its brilliantly barmy verses that get even more enjoyable on repeat readings when both of you know the words and can share them. The pictures aren't bad either, at least that's what my nieces and nephew tell me (they were done by Uncle Nick.)
Reading for pleasure is such an intrinsic part of learning, of being a human being, of growing and becoming an adult, and it's a thing that Bookstart does so magnificently well. I remember my very first book that I ever owned - it was called Richard Scarry's Storybook Dictionary and it was truly the book that taught me to read. I remember looking at the pages - the cat in the apron, the worm in the apple shaped car - and then being able to connect 'A' for 'Apple' to the apple shaped car, and suddenly that word made sense to that picture and I was reading. The book was mine, and reading was mine - that to me is the miracle of Bookstart. So, a hearty congratulations for twenty years - I know there are challenges for the next twenty, but it's a terrific programme, and that's why you should support it.
Sharing books with children and leading them to reading is one of the greatest gifts an adult can give a child because the ability to read opens up worlds they could never imagine, and Bookstart is there to help them find their way.
I've chosen three books which I've recently enjoyed sharing with children. They're not my top three books -- not my favourite books in the whole wide world -- but three very different books which offer three different -- yet similar -- sharing experiences: similar in that all three engaged the imaginations of me and the children.
My first choice is a non-fiction title called Phenomenal! The Small Book of Big Words by Jonathan Meres. It's a... well, what is it? The closest thing to what it is is a dictionary, but a dictionary like no other I've read. Perhaps the best way to explain is by choosing PART of a definition at random:
IMPETUOUS
Means: spur-of-the-moment, acting without thought
As in: It was an impetuous decision to eat the banana sideways.
A bit like: impulsive, spontaneous.
Nothing like: a chain of pet shops
The very word 'dictionary' may sound boring to some, but this is an example of a book for older children that you can get into by reading bits out to them -- to prove just what fun it is -- and prepare for it to be snatched eagerly from your hands. This is a book where one entry leads to another leads to another, taking you on a rollercoaster ride through the language, where we all learn a lot along the way. Sharing books isn't just for parents and the very young.
The second of my three titles is the picture book Ruby and Grub by Abi Burlingham & Sarah Warburton. The story is lovely, the pictures are characterful and there's plenty to stop and look at, point and talk about along the way. It's just what a good picture book should be.
My third book is the classic The Owl Who Was Afraid of The Dark by Jill Tomlinson. Jill Tomlinson had the rare talent of writing simple prose. Because it's so easy to read, you might assume that it was easy to write, but to write in such a non-flashy style -- one which doesn't say 'look at me' or come between the words and the reader/listener -- is a great skill, which she had in abundance. For that reason, reading this book to a child is a wonderful experience. With other books (about other animals) in the series, this may well encourage the child to have a go at reading some on their own.
A couple of books I'd like to share with children: well, this is Dickens year, so I think I'd like to start with Great Expectations. Too big? Too difficult? Not if we remember that we're sharing. We can talk about it, explain things, make the journey easier. Obviously this is not quite the best possible choice for a 4-year-old, but I'm all in favour of helping children share (there's that word again) books that might be to hard for them to read on their own. Something a little above what you're ready for is a wonderful treat, sometimes. For younger children there have been few books to compare with Arnold Lobel's wonderful Frog and Toad series. They're funny and touching and good reading in all kinds of ways.
As for Bookstart, books give a child a door through which he or she can go into a world they didn't know about, but which they belong in. It's their own country in there, their homeland, even if the inhabitants don't look like them, even if they don't look like people at all but animals or toys. Nothing but books can do this. After food, warmth, and love, children need books more than anything else.
As a working mother I always look forward to bedtime stories. Owl Babies by Martin Wadell was a favourite - I remember how it would transport me and my toddler into a world of adventure leaving us feeling safe and warm.
Sharing books with children is a very special experience. There's nothing nicer than cuddling up on the sofa together to enjoy reading a favourite story. As well as giving children free books, one of the wonderful things about Bookstart is that it provides help to families to encourage them to read together, providing support, guidance and lots of ideas to help them make the most of these moments to treasure.
My favourite book to read with children, and the one Jack always loved, is The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. It has the perfect combination of fun, fear and lots of opportunities for Mummy and Daddy to use voices.
My favourite book is Oh the places you'll go by Dr Seuss - it inspires me every time I read it to my children.
Bookstart becomes more and more important every year as a positive relationship with books is one of the greatest gifts you can give a child. We must ensure we don't lose a generation of children to books before the true value of them is rediscovered.
I love You Choose by Pippa Goodhart and illustrator Nick Sharratt. It encourages the best intense conversations with small people - night after night after night.
Books at home are the entry point to the priceless joy of reading. I am so proud of the Bookstart scheme that has reached millions with free books.
My son and I argue about who is the bigger Harry Potter fan. My favourite is the Order of the Phoenix because for me, it seemed like thinly-veiled metaphor for the War on Terror. Back in the days before my bedtime reading became surplus to requirements Barbara Lavalle's Mama Do You Love Me was a lovely tale of unconditional parental love and How to catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers touched us all.
Encountering books at an early age, identifying with imaginary characters and enjoying the tactile thrill of turning the page and finding out what happens next, long before you have learned to read, opens up a lifelong pleasure.
I am delighted that, even though there are so many exciting electronic diversions on offer, there are still thousands of people who look forward to sitting down with a small child and sharing a book together.
As someone who finds reading really difficult, I cannot describe the thrill of finishing my first 'big book' and then the heartache of the experience being over. What I had been missing all those years!
I will always be grateful for a childhood defined by books. It was the inspiration for my adult life.
I would have ended up mentally ill without books to take me away from a traumatic family life when I was growing up. Reading saved my mum too from misery and hopelessness. We could be free and happy, go anywhere, be anything in that imagined world. Booktrust is not only encouraging reading, it is saving lives. I am proud to be associated with the campaign
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